Author's Note: What I was anticipating being a short chapter ended up being the longest yet. I'm on a sort of vacation for the next couple of days so the wait for the next chapter or two shouldn't be too long. A reviewer asked if there will be chapters from Alison's POV, and there will be but for now, we're sticking with Emily as she navigates her new position. I hope you enjoy the update!

... ...

The texts started around 3 am.

Arrange a catered office breakfast today. A nice spread, NO BAGELS. Smoked salmon toast and an iced tangerine tea for me - A

Emily was deep in her sleep, she didn't hear the first text but the second and third caused her to stir, she ignored it, rolling over on the couch.

The denim options Alexzander Wang sent are dreadful. go to their showroom before coming to the office. get better ones. - A

Have Magda Butrym overnight dress options for me to wear to this year's garden party. - A

Emily couldn't keep ignoring the incessant buzzing and beeping, she felt around in the dark trying to grab her phone from the coffee table. The brightness from the screen hurt her eyes causing her to squint as she tried to read the incoming messages. Tired and sluggish, her mind struggled to make sense of them. A catered breakfast? Denim? Who's Magda Butrym? And who still uses text signatures? It was 3:43 in the morning, Emily stared at the time. She would worry about it at 6 when she woke up to her reasonably set alarm, when other reasonable people would be awake, making reasonable decisions. Emily set the phone back onto the coffee table, with more force than she intended. She rolled onto her back trying to get comfortable and closed her eyes, but just as she was falling back asleep, the phone buzzed and rang in succession and her eyes shot open. She grabbed the pillow from behind her head and placed it over her face, letting out a loud groan.

It felt like her first day only just ended. Alison left the office at 7 pm, most likely to make it to her dinner reservation, but before leaving she tasked Emily with filing the mountain of paperwork that had accumulated while she didn't have an assistant. The cabinet was full of random folders, loose papers, receipts, contracts, and proposals. It was a mess and it took Emily hours to pull everything out, sort it, and refile it. Before Alison had left she was performing final reviews of articles that were ready to be published to the GLOW website. A smile tugged at Emily's lips when she saw the Mount Everest feature, with its new title and re-edited photos get a green highlighter tab of approval from Alison. Working with Aria and Marcel had been the best part of her day. Alison, probably sensing her brief moment of joy, had given Emily an unimpressed glare.

Cancel my car for today, I'll be driving myself. - A

I need the stills from the Marc Jacobs test shoot on my desk, with my breakfast. - A

So much for her reasonable alarm, there was no way she was falling back asleep. With a resigned sigh, Emily sat up, reaching for the phone. This time she was able to read through the texts with more awareness, although still not fully alert. First, she sent a text to Alison's driver, informing him his services wouldn't be needed. It took all of 3 seconds, Alison could have easily done it herself. As Emily's thumb darted back and forth across the phone screen she heard the bathroom door creak open, and then the sound of heavy boots coming toward the living room.

"Hey," Toby approached her. "It's pretty early." he pointed out, his voice husky from having woken up not too long ago. He would be leaving for work soon.

"It is, but apparently my boss isn't getting any sleep, so neither am I," Emily replied, as she looked up directions from Toby's apartment to the Alexzander Wang showroom. "She ignored me the whole time we were at the office and now she won't stop texting. Things to do before I get to the office, things to do once I'm there," Emily pulled up Postmates and searched for breakfast places within the delivery range of GLOW. Most of them were closed but she could place the order and it would be delivered as soon as the restaurant could fulfill it, or at least that's what she was hoping.

"That sounds intense," Concern laced Toby's voice as he dropped into the armchair across from the couch.

Looking up from her phone for the first time, Emily met his gaze, "Yeah she's…intense," she admitted, weariness in her voice, "and kind of a bitch. I almost quit yesterday." Emily added.

"What?" Toby leaned forward, a worried look Emily had become familiar with over the past few months. "What did she do?"

Before Emily could delve into the details of her first day as Alison DiLaurentis' assistant. The phone in her hand buzzed and rang out again. She swiped up on the screen, another demand from Alison.

Customs is holding a Pnina Tornai hostage, it needs to be on set at the summer wedding dresses shoot by 8:30 - A

"I will tell you all about it tonight when I get home before 8," Emily pushed off the couch. Her words were more of a hope than a promise. "Apparently there's a hostage situation."

… …

Emily couldn't be in multiple places at once but she tried her hardest. Breakfast for the office was the first thing she arranged while walking to the train station. She'd place a large order from a well-rated Manhattan breakfast bar, an assortment of toasts, eggs in different styles, hashbrowns, bacon, side salads, and something called halloumi. Emily planned to call the restaurant right after the order was placed to go over the details but they beat her to it, she was greeted by a weary-sounding restaurant manager who was ready to cancel the huge order saying it was too much too soon.

Emily learned from her experience booking Alison's dinner reservation and awkwardly mentioned that the order was for GLOW a DiLaurentis McCullers Drake publication and that if they were able to make the breakfast order work on such short a time frame she was sure the company would keep them in mind for catering in the future. He was slow to agree but eventually came around.

"Are you sure she didn't say what she was looking for?" Gino, the showroom manager, questioned as he flicked on the lights. The gravellyness of his voice and the fact that they were the only two in the showroom gave away that he wasn't happy to have to come in so early. Emily could relate. "Not even a hint?"

"Better options, that's all she said." Emily looked around the showroom, there were too many options, and they were spread out everywhere. Emily rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Do you have a list of the selection you sent to GLOW? It will help you narrow it down."

Gino jerked his head back, "It will help me? You're just going to stand there?"

Emily walked over to a rack, pulling two pairs of denim shorts from it. "I wouldn't know where to start, all of this stuff looks the same to me." She returned the shorts to the rack. "Besides, Alison called me sloppy yesterday. I think the last thing she wants is for me to help."

"I mean.." Gino's eyes traveled from her wedge sneakers up to her rushed ponytail. "You could put in a bit more effort. My niece is 7 and she puts together better outfits." He motioned upward toward her appearance.

Emily glanced down at her attire, a striped tank top that, upon closer inspection belonged to Maya. Over time, their clothing had become a blended mishmash, both of them wearing whatever they pulled out of their combined drawers. The flannel shirt she wore on top was hers, and looking at it now under the harsh showroom lights, she could see that it wasn't the best combination. Her jeans were more spandex than actual denim, jeggings. And the wedge sneakers she had thrown on, she remembered were pretty popular, years ago. It was an uncomfortable realization, made more difficult by the fact that it was brought on by a stranger, but the lack of effort Emily had been putting into her appearance became clear to her. She thought back, months, years, when did it happen? When did she stop caring?

"All the more reason you don't need my help," Emily shot back, deflecting.

"Consider it a learning experience," Gino pointed to the racks on the right side of where they stood, "You start there, I'll start over here and we'll meet in the middle."

… …

Emily had to beg and plead with the officers at the New York Customs office to release the Pnina Tornai dress, they were not as impressed as the restaurant owner when she mentioned DiLaurentis McCullers Drake. Finally, they gave in and allowed her to take the dress, only because they wanted her out of their office. She juggled the wardrobe bag and her phone as she dialed Marcel.

"Emily, did you see the feature got approved?" Marcel answered excitedly. While they worked together yesterday Emily learned Marcel was actually pretty nice, he was just sensitive about his work and sometimes got too caught up in the clicks and download numbers.

"I did! I can't wait to read it on the site, but Marcel I need a favor," She said carefully weaving through sidewalk traffic to get to the train.

"...Okay," He said tentatively, Emily could hear the skepticism in the word.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt….to much," Emily told him, before explaining exactly what she needed him to do.

… …

As it turned out, Emily got back to GLOW just before 9, which was when Alison's first meeting was scheduled. The Editor in Chief was behind her desk sipping her tea when Emily entered the office.

"Good morning, Ms DiLaurentis," Emily greeted, walking to her desk.

"I've been calling you. Where have you been all morning?" Alison asked impatiently.

Emily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she sat in her chair. All morning? Alison had only been in the office for 20 minutes. And did she conveniently forget all the errands she dumped on her? Emily pulled out her phone, and sure enough she had 2 missed calls from Alison during her train ride.

"I was on the train. I didn't have service, sorry, The-" Emily started to explain.

"You can't not have service. What if I need to reach you?" Alison's expression remained unchanged.

Emily hesitated, unsure how to respond. How was that even a genuine question? Did Alison just want to hear her apologize again?

"Did you need something done? I can do it now," Emily offered, trying to get some clarity. Emily couldn't read Alison, she didn't know what she wanted.

"I called to ask why Marcel was bringing me the stills I asked for and my breakfast," Alison rose from her desk and moved toward Emily's.

"I was bringing the Pnina Tornai to the shoot like you asked. You said it needed to be there by 8:30, and customs opened at 8. I can't be in two places at once, Ms. DiLaurentis," Emily struggled to maintain her composure as her voice cracked slightly.

On her way in, Emily had seen the catered breakfast was a success. The new denim selections were already in the closet ready for Hanna. Alison's Dress options for the GLOW Garden Party were being overnighted. The car service had been canceled, and Alison had her stupid toast and tea. She met every demand Alison had and still managed to make it into the office before 9. Yet Alison stood over Emily's desk staring down at her with a look that made her feel like she couldn't do anything right.

"I don't know where you worked before, but while you're at GLOW, if you need to be in three places at once, you make it happen," Alison's words cut right through Emily. "Either do better or leave."

Do not cry, do not cry, do not cry. Emily repeated the words to herself while Alison continued to stare into her. The gaze was only broken because Avery and the rest of the Socials team walked in.

… …

No one paid attention to Emily during the meeting. Avery, Jordyn, and Lee took turns excitedly presenting their plans for all of GLOW's social media platforms for the rest of the month, with a special emphasis on TikTok which had been Alison's main concern. Whether or not Alison was satisfied with the presentation was indiscernible, she asked a few questions about upcoming campaigns and analytics, all of which Avery had an answer for, but otherwise, it was impossible to tell what Alison was thinking. Emily was grateful for the respite the meeting provided and focused on taking notes and learning the analytics being discussed instead of allowing herself to spiral about once again failing spectacularly at her new job, despite having no idea what she did wrong.

Except take the train.

What had been Alison's expectation that she run all over New York?

Take a taxi? No. Who would be expected to pay for that?

No. No spiraling.

Emily stopped herself, and just in time because the conversation around her had changed course.

"They've started calling you the Ice Princess," Jordyn spoke quietly.

Alison sniffed in displeasure, "How original."

Emily looked up from her notepad to see Alison slowly rotating her ankle, her gaze lowering from the team to her stiletto, she did it once more holding the motion briefly causing her calf to flex subtly. As if she could feel Emily's eyes on her, Alison's own darted up, caught, Emily looked away back to the trio standing in the middle of the room. Emily mentally cataloged the movement just as she had Alison's smile at the mention of keeping secrets during the Jemma Wynne meeting.

Attention to detail, right? That's what the job required and maybe if Emily paid close enough attention she could discern the blonde's moods, and anticipate her needs. It would make the job easier. The Socials team hadn't noticed anything, they were too busy looking at one another, exchanging panicked expressions and nudges, silently deciding who would speak up next.

"We think now would be a good time to implement some of the content ideas we've been trying to get you to approve," Avery began explaining. "We can start slow, and it would all be short-form content so filming wouldn't interrupt your day."

"We'd like to start with the reading mean tweets segment, we think that would get the most traction, but-"

"No." Alison's response was swift and firm as she stood from the table and strode back to her desk.

It was clear to Emily that Alison's return to her desk meant the meeting was over but the Socials team didn't move. They were nudging each other again, pushing Avery to say something she clearly didn't want to but as the head of their unit, she had to.

"The nickname isn't a problem now, but it can turn into something….ugly." Avery cautioned. "The public actually likes you but that can change quickly."

Alison, now seated behind her desk, fixed her gaze on Avery and leaned in slightly, "Actually?"

"What?" Avery shifted uneasily.

"You said actually as if it's a surprise. Why are you surprised the public likes me?" Alison pushed her chin forward, her tone challenging.

Caught off guard Avery, stumbled over her words, "I just meant that it's uh, different. The public sees you differently than…your mother."

With the amount of tension in the room at the mention of Mrs DiLaurentis, Emily was expecting Alison's response to be a fierce one. Emily glanced at the time and saw an opportunity to spare everyone from whatever was about to unfold.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Ms DiLaurentis has another meeting and-" She didn't need to finish.

"Say no more!" Lee interjected, seizing the opportunity Emily created he quickly motioned for the rest of the team to gather their things.

… …

Alison's next meeting wasn't until a full half hour later with Hanna, but she didn't say anything about Emily's interruption. The three of them sat at the table in Alison's office, Emily took notes while Alison and Hanna fleshed out Hanna's idea to feature the New York Liberty. It was a really good idea. Hanna pointed out that were constant articles, websites, and social media pages dedicated to what NBA players were wearing while nobody cared or was paying attention to the WNBA. Committed to figuring Alison out, Emily paid close attention to how much more relaxed Alison was during this meeting than her last. Her back rested comfortably against the chair, instead of upright, and she talked animatedly, sure she wasn't smiling or laughing but it was clear she and Hanna had built up some rapport.

"Emily," Hanna called out from across the table, and as soon as Emily looked up from her notes Hanna reached across and swiped them. "You haven't said anything, you've just been…doing this." Hanna flipped through the pages.

"I'm taking notes," Emily responded, slightly puzzled, "It's part of my job."

Hanna sighed, clearly expecting more, "Well, yeah, but don't you have anything to say, any thoughts? Ideas?"

Both Hanna and Alison stared at Emily, waiting for her to say something. Emily did have an idea but it felt obvious, and she was hesitant to voice it, not wanting to ruin the decent mood Alison was in. The prolonged silence and Hanna's expectant stare pushed her to share her input.

"I think you should invite them to the Garden Party. It would give them an opportunity to meet you and vice versa, and you could pitch your idea in a more relaxed setting." Emily finally spoke up. "The whole team should be invited, the coaches too, not just their star players. It would show them you care about highlighting everyone and you're not just looking to use a few names for headlines."

Hanna nodded clearly happy with the input, "Aria was right, you're good. I'll have Olivia send out the invitations and update the guest list." She looked from Emily to Alison.

Alison sighed and looked away, seemingly unimpressed with Emily's suggestion. As she stood from the table to retrieve her purse from her desk, she addressed Hanna, "While we're on the subject, You'll be dressing Emily for the party, arrange for hair and make-up too."

"Sure," Hanna replied nonchalantly.

By the time Emily got up the courage to say that it wasn't necessary and that she could dress herself, Alison was gone.

"Just so you know, I wasn't picking on you," Hanna rose from her seat. "Anyone can run errands, answer the phones, and take notes. She needs to know you have ideas if you're going to stay here." Hanna handed the notepad back to Emily. "You did good, Em."

… …

New York's Ice Queen shows up to Hamptons Luncheon alone.

The article was a week old but Emily read it anyways. It was a short piece but it managed to take several low blows at Mrs DiLaurentis' marriage. Detailing how the couple has lived separately for years, never attends the same events, and is rarely seen together. At first, Emily dismissed it as an exaggeration, but after reading a few more articles, she realized there was some truth to the claims. Kenneth DiLaurentis, Jessica's husband and Alison's father, had moved out of the country and was living in France. No wonder they were never photographed or seen together, he was on another continent. Of course, the celebrity news and gossip pages attributed it to Mrs DiLaurentis being frigid. Somehow everything that was supposedly wrong with the union fell squarely on her, and the news cycle never missed a chance to remind the world.

Alison on the other hand never showed up to events alone and was constantly photographed with different women. No matter where she went, there was a model, actress, or singer hanging off her or snuggled against her side. The press ate it up, keeping tabs on who she was dating, when, and for how long. None of the women she spent her time with had anything negative to say about her. Most chose not to say anything at all, but a few had very generous things to say that only fueled the media's obsession. One thing was clear, Avery was right, the public had a very different idea of Alison than they did her mother.

With Alison still out of the office and the phone relatively quiet, Emily decided to download Tiktok. She was not expecting the number of compilation videos under #AlisonDiLaurentis, it was shocking. The most popular videos seemed to be edits of Alison giving the paparazzi the death glare, it was a piercing but also captivating look that had become her trademark.

Emily read some of the comments under the videos.

I think I'd die if she looked at me like that

We love our Ice Princess

The comments were littered with emojis, gushing over Alison's clothing, and a general agreement that her eyes were both beautiful and scary. They weren't all positive but the good far outweighed the bad.

One very popular clip caught Emily's attention, it had amassed over 16 million views and was being reposted constantly. It was one of those short red carpet interviews, Alison and Spencer were both posing for photos when a reporter shoved a mic in their face.

"Do you refer to each other as sisters or half-sisters?"

"What?" Spencer shook her head, both taken aback by the mic in her face and clearly off put by the question, "I say she's my sister." the answer was curt.

Alison didn't let the reporter unnerve her, she looked directly into the camera and said, "That's a stupid question." before putting an arm around Spencer and ushering her into the event.

Emily couldn't help but laugh at Alison's bluntness, and without thinking about it she scrolled down to read the comments.

Something about this was hot.

Someone needs to make a DiLaurentis family tree, I can't keep up.

Beautiful and protective? I'm melting.

Emily noticed the comments were a bit split on this one. A lot of people thought Alison was rude, and the reporter was just doing her job. Others said the question was harmless and Alison was overreacting. Most people appreciated Alison calling out the ridiculousness of the question and her protectiveness of Spencer who was clearly uncomfortable. Emily fell into the category of most people. She wouldn't even be surprised to find out the question was asked intentionally to get a rise out of Alison.

"Addicting isn't it?" The voice made Emily jump in her chair, her head turning to the doors to see a brunette standing crossed armed just inside the office. She didn't even hear her come in.

"It's research," Emily said unconvincingly even though it was true.

"Right." The brunette smiled, it was warm and wide and showed off very nice white teeth. She came closer to Emily's desk. "I'm Paige, I have a meeting with Alison."

Emily glanced at the empty desk in the middle of the office before turning to her computer and pulling up Alison's schedule. "Uh yes, I see it here. Paige McCullers, budget meeting." Emily looked up from the screen to Paige, once again face to face with someone who had their last name on the building.

Paige motioned to the empty desk, "So where is she?"

"I don't know," Emily said nervously, turning her eyes back to the computer she sent Alison a schedule notification. Then she reached for the phone and called Alison's cell. It rang twice and went to voicemail. She called again, this time from her company phone instead of the office line, and again she was sent to voice mail. "Let me try texting her." Emily made an effort to move calmly even though on the inside she was becoming frantic, Alison didn't seem like the type to forget meetings, and hadn't she just reamed Emily out about being unreachable?

Paige let out a sigh angry enough to almost be a growl, "Tell her if she's wasting my time she'll regret it,"

Unsure of what to write, but certain it wasn't going to be that, she kept it brief and to the point. Paige McCullers is in the office for the scheduled budget meeting.

Several minutes passed with no response to the text and Alison's phone still going to voicemail. "I'm sorry, I'm sure she's just running late or maybe there was a schedule mix-up." Emily apologizes. "There could be something that was previously arranged for this time, maybe a personal errand."

Paige's frustration only grew, "This is the second time she's done this, it's no accident. Call her driver, find out where she is,"

Emily breathed in deeply mustering up some courage before having to say, "She's driving herself today."

"Of course she is," Paige chuckled dryly. "Look, when she gets back tell her she just made things more difficult for the both of us. Can you do that?"

Emily nodded her understanding as Paige stormed out.

… …

When Alison returned to the office she made no mention of Emily's numerous calls or texts about the missed budget meeting. She glided into the office, practically floating straight to her desk. Emily didn't want to bring up the meeting but she knew she had to relay Paige's message.

"You missed the budget meeting that was scheduled for today," Emily said cautiously.

"Did I?" Alison ran a hand through her hair, leaning back in her white leather chair. Hair that was slightly messier than when she had left. "I must have forgot," the words didn't sound sincere, and if that wasn't enough a smile spread across her lips. It was quick but Emily saw it, recognized it, and knew Alison didn't forget the meeting at all, she blew it off.

Emily looked her over, Alison's wavy hair was slightly frizzed in certain places, her lipstick had been freshly reapplied, and the top two buttons of her shirt were undone. Her shirt wasn't like that earlier, Emily remembered. It was becoming obvious what Alison blew off the meeting for.

"You're staring,"

"Oh, uh…" Emily struggled to remember what Paige had instructed her to say. "Paige told me to tell you that you've made things difficult for the both of you," the words started to come back to her. "She said you would regret wasting her time."

"Regret it?" Alison's eyes briefly hardened, but then to Emily's surprise, Alison laughed, clearly taking pleasure in having upset Paige. "She can be so dramatic. Any other messages while I was out?"

"Uh yes," Emily glanced at her phone and then back to Alison, "But first, can I show you something?" Emily decided to take a chance, Alison was in a relatively good mood and if she was going to do it, now was the time.

Alison nodded without saying anything, and in seconds Emily was at her side, loading up one of the TikTok compilations she'd favorited earlier. Alison watched the video collage of short clips of her shooting the paparazzi her icy blues. The video ended with icicles encroaching on the screen and a heart drawn around Alison's face. The editing left something to be desired, but the sentiment was clear.

"Have you seen any of these?" Emily asked, holding her breath. "There are thousands."

Alison huffed and pushed the phone away. "No. I don't look at what people post about me online. That's Avery's job,"

"And is Avery good at her job?" Emily approached dangerous territory, but Hanna's words sat in the front of her mind. Answering phones and running errands wouldn't be enough.

"The best, or else she wouldn't be here." Alison's answer was quick, prideful almost, at her choice of employees.

Emily braced herself, "Then maybe you should listen to her."

"Excuse me?" Alison turned in her chair, fully facing Emily, daring her to continue.

"She was right earlier when she said people liked you, see for yourself," Emily offered her phone and despite brief hesitation, Alison grabbed it. Emily could tell she was going straight for the comments. "Hanna and Aria make appearances on the company pages all the time and the videos do well, but the comments are all asking for you. It would be good for you and good for GLOW."

Alison watched a few more videos, perused the comments on all of them, and handed the phone back to Emily without looking at her. "You said I had other messages."

Emily took the hint and went back to her desk, relaying all the messages and updates to Alison's schedule that occurred while she was out. Alison kept her in the office late, working together, but separate. Alison on one side of the room, marking up GLOW's latest trend report with red post-its detailing her notes, there were so many that Emily wondered why Alison didn't just scratch the entire thing and ask for it to be redone. Emily was on the other side of the office preparing an expense report, she had no idea what she was doing but with the help of Google and Youtube University, she figured it out. A soft thud broke her concentration, Emily looked up to see Alison kicking off her heels. So much for getting home before 8 pm, it didn't look like they would be leaving anytime soon.

"Tell Avery to give you the Socials phone tomorrow, and have her CC you on the short form content ideas she had. You'll be filming them." Alison declared with little emotion as she walked from her desk to the office wall adorned in framed past GLOW covers.

Emily's mouth hung open, she knew nothing about filming content, she had just wanted Alison to reconsider Avery's ideas…but then it hit her. Either Alison had reconsidered the content strategy and was trusting Emily to film it, or she believed Emily would mess it up so profoundly that it would be just another reason to fire her. Emily chose to believe the former.

"You're staring again, Emily," Alison exhaled.